Sphere of Influence

All of the windows in Willie Williams’s car have been broken, his fence has been kicked over, his recycle bins were picked up and hurled at his house. For the last 12 years, Williams has been a University District homeowner and landlord with a penchant for calling the cops when his neighbors blast music and host raucous parties—as houses full of college kids are inclined to do. “When I ask some students to quiet down, they give me the U-District attitude: It’s your fault for living here,” says Williams.

As school kicks into session this year, U-District citizens sick of student noise and vandalism may be in luck. After years of dodging the issue, the University of Washington is currently considering a proposal to play a role in moderating student behavior throughout the neighborhood.

Within the campus boundaries, the university enforces its conduct code—which bans rowdy behaviors like public drunkenness—through punishments such as suspension. A student drunkenly swearing and stumbling around Drumheller Fountain will be picked up by campus police and might pay a fine or even be banned from registration. But frat boys engaging in ritual drunkenness and destruction three blocks away from campus are handled by the Seattle Police Department and won’t face any punishments from the school. The SPD takes a strong hand against students who commit criminal offenses off campus, but most behaviors that irk neighbors (such as littering or noise violations) are noncriminal and garner only a ticket or warning. Now—after a collection of UW, city, and neighborhood representatives met weekly last quarter to hash out a list of 10 recommendations—the university is contemplating becoming more involved in reining in wild off-campus students. The details are still up in the air (another group is convening to discuss the recommendations of the first group) but offending students could be enrolled in campus-based mediation or possibly face punishments like suspension.

“Noise violations are really low-level priority for the police, even though it’s a big problem for the neighbors,” says Darby Ducomb, director of the city’s code compliance program. “We’re hoping to strengthen the relationship between the UW police force and the city police.” Ducomb acknowledges that the enforcement of the UW code of conduct beyond campus limits may lead to an increase in student citations.

Another recommendation is to restrict the number of unrelated people who can live in one home (currently, eight unrelated students can cram themselves into one house) and to ban housing-code violators from advertising their properties on campus.

Williams says, “Property owners who don’t live here only think about the neighborhood in terms of ‘How much money can I get out of it?’… it creates an instability in the neighborhood.”

“The UW has taken quantum steps—at least now they’re willing to acknowledge that there is a problem,” says Williams. If the university follows through with the next 10 steps, the nightlife of UW students—and their neighbors—will change profoundly over the next several years.